A number of various material attributes are desirable for material used to make outer covers of absorbent articles. For example, in pant-like garments, machine direction stretchability is desirable because longitudinal conformability prevents a crotch region of the garment from sagging and bulging. Similarly, cross direction stretchability is desirable because lateral conformability maintains a snug, yet comfortable fit about a wearer's hips. Furthermore, stretchability, more particularly elasticity, in all directions eliminates the need for adding elastic components to a product.
Breathability is a material attribute particularly desirable in absorbent articles. Breathable films and laminates, when used in diapers or similar absorbent garments, reduce the relative humidity and temperature within the garment in comparison to such garments made of non-breathable films and laminates.
A fluid barrier is an inherently desirable material attribute of an absorbent article. The fluid barrier acts to prevent liquids from permeating through a surface of the garment and onto a wearer's clothing.
Cloth-like aesthetics are yet another material attribute particularly desirable for the outer cover of absorbent articles. Materials that have a cloth-like feel and appearance render an absorbent article more comfortable to both a wearer and a care giver. Furthermore, cloth-like materials tend to reduce or eliminate the swishing noise normally associated with non-cloth-like materials used in absorbent articles.
Various types of material with combined attributes are known in the art. For example, stretch-bonded laminates (SBL) deliver a machine direction stretchable, breathable composite, but have no fluid barrier and no stretchability in a cross direction. More recent neck-bonded laminates deliver a cross direction stretchable fluid barrier, but are not stretchable in the machine direction. Other composites claim to be cloth-like, breathable barriers, but they do not stretch in either a machine direction or a cross direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,781 issued to Morman on May 19, 1992, discloses a laminate that can stretch in at least two directions. The laminate includes a reversibly necked material and an elastic sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,662 issued to Morman on May 26, 1992, discloses a laminate that can stretch in at least two directions. The laminate includes a necked material and an elastic sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,028 issued to Morman, et al., on Mar. 16, 1999, discloses a laminate that can stretch in at least two directions. The laminate is formed by attaching a nonwoven material that is necked in the cross direction to a water vapor-soluble film that is stretched in the machine direction.
There is a need or desire for a material that delivers a multitude of properties in a single composite, namely high breathability, fluid barrier, cloth-like aesthetics, and biaxial stretch.